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Not familiar with the Union?

The Sales bloggers Union (www. salesbloggers.com), is nine of the world’s leading sales bloggers.

The Union started in June of 2008 in an effort to share ideas and improve the sales trainings and offerings of the group. Through blogging and commenting they share ideas with the sales community and work towards improving the reputation sales people have with potential buyers. The new website offers a central repository for their thoughts and an accessible place to help sales people hone their skills.

Members of the Sales Bloggers Union are:

Brad Trnavsky, Founder of Sales Management 2.0
Colin Wilson, Managing Director of First Border
Ian Brodie, Founder of Lighthouse Business Consulting
Karl Goldfield, The Startup Sales Mentor
Nesh Thompson,Sales System Developer at Symvolli
Skip Anderson, Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training
Tibor Shanto Principal at Renbor Sales Solutions, Inc.
Tim Rohrer, The Sales and Marketing Loudmouth
Will Fultz, Top Sales Blog “

A webTV show on training and ki work for sales trainers

So I am in the process of setting up a sales training show on one of the big web TV sites. Please let me know what topics you would like.

The show will be 30 minutes once a week (suggested times anyone?) The trainings will not be gimmicks to buy somethin but complete sessions or done in parts. You will get something out of every one.

An initial focus on staratups and evangelism will help all of you in growing companies. That said, I intend to invite some of the worlds brightest sales consultants and business experts for guest appearances.

Also and this is IMPORTANT. I AM NOW THE CATEGORY LEADER FOR SALES TRAINING ON ki work. ki work is an amazing site that is designed to unify the fragmented global market of remote work, offsite training, regional opportunties, and outsourced projects. As the leader in sales training I will be looking for other training experts to join my group and offer their services to the ki work community.

Brilliant – A new find in Tibor Shanto and a steady favorite in Colin Wilson

Let’s get right to it and start with an amazing post by Tibor Shanto. In his post, “Selling to procurement“, he clearly explains the futility in these efforts. There is no magic way to get purchasing agents to think about anything but price, and with the economy floundering, they become much more powerful. He suggests working higher up the chain, and I could not agree more. Personally, I only prospect or network with VP’s and C-level executives.

Now for Colin and his superb post on Pipeline Management.  If you do not know Colin’s work, he runs http://firistborder.com and developed the product Focus. I have written on it extensively and really love his style. This post is hilarious as he likens the all powerful pipeline to the all elusive Holy Grail. Wee bit on the severe side, but that’s Colin for you.

One parting note: Things are really starting to gel for me in the blogosphere. Between twitter, messageSlinger, ki work, and my other clients, life is what I have always dreamed it could be.  None of this, and I mean none of it, could have happened without the people reading and supporting this blog. Today, I say you are brilliant and I thank you.

Karl Goldfield

startup sales mentor

Brilliant: And the winners are…

So this week I have some real gems to discuss. Tim Rohrer the crowned prince of media sales demonstrates what not to do from one of his own experiences.  Read about his Olympic sized missteps in his post: A selling dilemna Yes Tim knows there is a spelling issue of epic proportions in his title!

Next we have another Gem from the Sales Management 2.0 site of Brad Trnavsky. BB Hainsworth asks an important question in “How much  is hiting costing you?”

Fianlly a parting thought because I am in the midst of a rough day. It is always unfortunate when you lose touch with people, especially when you were so close for so long. One person I have not seen in years who meant so much to me in high school and my early days in California was my frend Miles Decotiis. Miles and I grew from long haired metal playing teenagers to adults of the fight club X-generation reality.

I found out today, that one May 8th he died in a car accident. Miles was an inspiration to me in my youth. If not for him, I would have never moved to California or really taken the guitar seriously. If not for Miles I would have never broken out of my book wormish hide and developed the joy of interaction and relationships that I do today. Withut Milo, my best friend, who knows if I would have made it through high school with my mental state intact. His free spirit and carefree attitude were bar none, and nothing less that viral. If anyone I knew showed me the mettle it would one day take for me to perservere in sales, it was Milo. I will miss you my compadre, and wherever you are, I know snakes sing and eagles dance for a moment by your side.

Your fried freckled friend,

Karl

Brilliant: Sales Excellence stands alone!

In his post today on his blog Sales Excellence, Ian Brodie does such a great job at mentoring the young services company that I felt he would get this post all to himself. He shares an important concept in passive vs. active marketing. In his post, 3 Quick and Simple Steps to Improve Sales in Professional Services Firm, he shares with firms that cutting your budget on advertising and freeing up time for prospecting is a healthy way to increase sales. Read more here: http://www.lighthousebc.co.uk/blog/articles/3-simple-things-to-improve-sales-in-professional-services-firms.html

What I would like to add to the concepts shared in this fantastic post is why this method is so effective. Really there are two reasons this wil work:

1. Direct action and proactive targeted prospecting will generate leads in a quantifiable manner.  You can start to develop metrics and forecast what the prospecting will deliver. You cannot forecast an advertisement’s results.
2. There is a relationship with a prospect that is developed from the onset. If your professionals are the ones building the pipeline, the leads are more ikely to be valuable. They will cultivate them and once they have them as a client, the trust needed for a long term relationship is already there.

Ian really sheds some light on how less spending coupled with less demand will equate to more sales.